


Flip A Coin?

by ml101



Series: Hope Is Worth Fighting For [13]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Rumbelle is Hope
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-29
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2019-01-26 03:03:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12547380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ml101/pseuds/ml101
Summary: Prompt: "I decided to flip a coin about every decision in my life for a week and that's how we ended up on a date."





	Flip A Coin?

**Author's Note:**

> My last one-shot for Rumbelle Is Hope with a prompt that I may or may not have cheated on a bit. But not my last fic update for this week. I still have one more to post tomorrow :)

"You really don't have to do this too Papa," began Neal as he and his father finished washing the dishes. "I mean Emma and I want to teach Henry the importance of decision making and-"

"The lad stays with me quite a lot during the week and it's better that he sees this little demonstration everyday." argued Gold as he handed his son another plate to dry. "Besides, it won't make much of a difference because my decisions are usually if I'll eat lunch at Granny's or just order take out."

"Oh really?" challenged Neal. "Not scared that it'll be to either give someone an extension on their rent or not."

Gold glared at his son and resisted the urge to splash soapy water at the smug smile he was getting.

Henry had decided to head to Granny's with his friends earlier, a decision he had arrived because he had flipped a coin whether to go with his friends or not.

So Emma and Neal had decided to teach the boy a lesson by being practical. The entire family would decide on some things by flipping a coin. Emergencies or other important matters on the other hand would not be affected.

Extending one's rent didn't qualify on those terms.

Gold had offered to do the exercise as well seeing as Henry usually spent some of his time after school at his grandfather's pawnshop, when both his parents had town meetings to attend.

"Henry isn't usually at the shop when things like that happen," said Gold. "Besides, rent day is next week."

"Don't go beast mode on me when one of your tenants charge at the shop while Henry's there." remarked Neal with a smile. "Because that isn't a family emergency or an important matter and you're going to have to flip a coin."

* * *

Apparently the lesson had been paying off, as Henry complained about eating nothing but vegetables for the past two days because they've been flipping a coin on what to eat.

"The other night it was peas and carrots and last night we had a spinach casserole," groaned Henry as he watched his grandfather fix a clock. "I'm glad that at least I got to have dessert last night but that was still a 50-50 chance."

Gold chuckled as his grandson continued to narrate the past two days of life by the coin as Emma had coined it, no pun intended.

"What can I tell you lad," began Gold as he kept his tools and looked over the watch Marco had asked him to repair. "You win some, you lose some."

"Well I've learned my lesson," began Henry as he got out his homework. "Maybe the sentence could be reduced?"

Gold smiled at the tactic and ruffled the boy's hair. "As much as I admire the cunning attempt, my boy, the final say has to be from your parents."

"Come on Grandpa," began Henry. "You didn't come over last night because the coin said so. Don't you miss me?"

"Guilt-tripping your grandfather isn't going to work," said a voice and Neal came through the curtain separating the main shop from the back room. "But I do need to know if we're expecting you for dinner or not."

Gold smiled and got a coin from his pocket. "Heads, yes, tails, no." He tossed the coin and let it land on the table, Henry whooping as the coin finally declared heads.

Before Gold could answer, he heard the bell signal someone had come in. He turned to his son, "You didn't flip the sign?"

"Five to five, Papa," chuckled Neal. "Technically, you're still open."

Gold glared at the laughing forms of his son and grandson and made to go to the front of the shop to tell the person to leave-only to stop dead in his tracks when he saw who the customer was.

"Hi, Mr. Gold, I'm in a bit of a pickle," began Belle French as she clutched an old tattered book in her hands.

"What can I do for you Ms. French?" asked Gold as he walked over to the counter, hearing his son and grandson scamper in the back room but they did not emerge.

"Well Regina and I overlooked the curiosity of young Roland," began the petite librarian. "As we were talking about the library's activities for the coming months, Roland managed to grab this book and well you can see the result…"

The pages of the tattered copy of "Her Handsome Hero" had fallen off from the spine. The pages weren't dented or folded at the edges, it was just really that the pages had fallen off.

"Given that it's an older book, I don't think simple tape would be enough to fix it," began Belle. "And I don't really want to just tape it all together. I know some paste and stitching is involved in these situations and I was wondering-"

"Say no more, Ms. French," began Gold with a smile. "I'd be happy to restore this for you. I'd just have to do a bit of research before I try though. I do not want to ruin this book because of my lack of book restoring skills."

"That would be fine, Mr. Gold," replied Belle with a smile.

"I hope you don't mind me asking," began Gold as he delicately gathered the pages of the book and stored it for safekeeping. "Wouldn't be faster to just buy another copy?"

"Yes, but this particular copy is part of the first editions of this book," began Belle with a slight blush. "And it isn't actually the copy of the library's...well it's actually-"

"Yours?" asked Gold with a smile. He knew that she was ad avid reader, why he wasn't surprised when Regina had said that Belle French was coming back to town to run the library. She was also a collector of first editions. From what he could remember, he had appraised the book for Maurice French when he had found it in some sale. He had given it to his late wife Collette as an anniversary present. "I remember your father bringing it to me before, asking for its authenticity."

Belle laughed and Gold found himself smiling wider. "Yes, I remember that story. Mother had thought he was going to sell it only to find that father just wanted to make sure that he was giving her something of value."

Gold nodded and eyed the book once again. "Then I'll make sure to give me the utmost care and attention, Ms. French. I wouldn't want to do any harm to such a very important piece of literature."

"Every written word is an important piece of literature, Mr. Gold," began Belle with a smile. Gold raised an eyebrow at her which prompted a chuckle. "Well some pieces weight more than another."

"Like hardbound, first editions?"

"Like books passed down from parent to child," replied Belle and Gold gave her a thoughtful smile.

"I agree on that front," said Gold. "I'll inform you as I can if I can restore it. If not, I'll try and find someone with more experience."

"Oh I wouldn't want to be a bother-"

"You're never a bother Ms. French," replied Gold and the loud chuckle turned cough could be heard loud and clear from the back. "I'm happy to be of service."

He all but glared as his son emerged from the back room, followed closely by Henry.

"Hi Ms Belle!" greeted Henry.

"Hello Henry, Neal," said Belle with a smile. "Well I best not keep you from a family dinner. Thank you again, Mr. Gold."

She departed with one final wave and as soon as the door closed Gold glared at his son. "Really, Bae, eavesdropping?"

"It's not eavesdropping if you can clearly hear the conversation," remarked Neal with a teasing smile. "Henry, why don't you pack up your homework and call your mother to expect Grandpa."

Henry did as he was told and Neal turned to his father, Gold slightly worried about the glint in his son's eyes.

"You know why don't you just ask her out for dinner," said Neal as Gold opened the safe and placed Belle's book inside. "It'll save all the town the trouble of being witness to the slow burn of romance that is you and the librarian."

"What do you mean the entire town?" asked Gold in surprise and horror.

"Come on, Papa," whined Neal. "The only people who can't see that you are entirely in love with each other are the two of you."

Gold snorted. "I doubt Belle French has any sort of feelings-"

"Wanna bet?" asked Neal. "Look just ask her out for coffee or something. What's the worse that can happen?"

"I don't think-"

"Flip a coin?"

Both adults turned to Henry as he emerged from the back. "It's not a family emergency. So that decision warrants a coin flip."

Neal's smile widened as his son's logic sank in and turned to his father, the glint in his eyes back with full forced and Gold found himself swallowing nervously. "Henry has a point dad...and I did say you could get out of this little life lesson."

Gold sighed and resigned himself to his fate. He got the coin from his pocket. "Heads, yes, tails, no."

He held his breath as the coin soared and landed on the counter and sighed in relief as the coin landed on tails.

Neal eyed his father but a smile was still on his face. "Well it's a long week...and there is a 50-50 chance."

* * *

 

"There has to be a rule that you can only flip a coin once for a given scenario," said Gold as he helped Emma clear the table.

"Nobody forced you to join the lesson Gold," began Emma with a smile. "Neal gave you an out but you insisted. Ergo, all decisions this week will be decided by the coin."

"You make it sound so ominous, Em," said Neal from the sink as he began washing the dishes. "But I agree with her Papa, I told you that you didn't have to take part but you insisted. And so talking to Belle, whether or not to give her a call or to walk over to the library is now decided by a coin."

"Not when it's not really part of my day," mumbled Gold.

"But yes when we pester you about it," said Neal with a smile. "Be thankful it's night time and we don't really want to look like stalkers. But tomorrow when I'm at the shop-"

"I'm closed." said Gold as he placed their leftovers in the fridge.

For the past two days, Gold has flipped a coin in deciding if he should ask Belle out to dinner, give her a call to ask the same question, go over her booth to again ask the same question. All prompted by Bae and Henry, all getting a no.

Frankly. Gold was relieved. As much as he really did want to go out on a date with Belle French, he really was buying his time. He didn't want to look like a creepy old man with a crush on the beautiful librarian.

As Neal would say it, he was playing his cards right.

But then Neal's words from the other day came back to him...the entire town thought that she had feelings for him? That was absurd. She was friendly to everyone, and she was always pleasant to talk, even to people like Keith Nottingham. She didn't act differently when she was talking to him...I mean they did talk an awful lot about books and other things they had in common.

"Uh hello, universe to Papa, anyone in there?" cae Neal's voice and Gold was startled out of his thoughts as his son's face appeared in his line of sight. "You know what, forget the coin, go over to the library tomorrow and just ask her out already."

"Nope, that's for the coin to decide," said Emma. "If he keeps getting a no, then maybe there's good reason."

"You believe in fate and destiny and all those things Emma?"

Emma gave him a confident smile. "Well Gold, if you asked me a decade ago, I'd have probably dumped some expensive wine over your head...but I've changed a few perspectives of mine."

She didn't glance Neal's way but Gold got the point and returned her smile. He and Emma had gotten off on a rough start but when both saw how they cared about their mutual loved ones, it was an easy built relationship.

He just hoped that she was right and it was an easy built relationship with Belle French as well.

* * *

 

Gold was able to find some instructions in restoring an old book and was able to do it. He was a spinner and needle work was never an issue. He was very scared to damage the pages and didn't pull the thread to tight as he binded the pages together before gluing them to the spine.

He had informed Belle to come by the shop the following day and as he waited (shooing Henry to the diner and had asked Granny to watch over the lad) he stared at the coin on the shop counter.

Belle was due to arrive in five minutes and he still hadn't answered his question.

The question being if he was going to ask Belle to have dinner with him tomorrow. To be honest, even without the coin, he didn't know the answer.

At least with the coin, he'd be forced to follow its decision-

Gold groaned. He couldn't he was going to let a coin dictate his life. But this was what he had agreed upon with his son and his family. It wasn't just some nonsense...it was a lesson all of them needed to understand...about decision and how life-changing one small decision can be.

Why decisions were always pondered upon and never just a toss up.

He sighed and took the coin. Heads, yes, tails no. He took a deep breath and tossed coin-

"Hi Mr. Gold," came Belle's voice and Gold was to startled to catch the coin and he managed to swat it away, the coin landing on the floor and rolling towards Belle.

Belle picked it up and gave him an amused look. "You know I've been seeing you, Neal, Henry and even Emma flipping a coin almost the entire week. Is there something going on?"

"Ummm," began Gold as he internally groaned. Way to sound smart Gold. "I-well we-I mean-"

Belle gave him a look mixed of amusement and confusion as she walked over to the counter. "Would you prefer to ask the coin whether to let me in on the Gold family secret?"

She held the coin out to him and Gold swallowed the forming lump in his throat. He took it slowly and Belle eyed his every movement. "Heads, yes, tails no?"

Gold nodded and then he tossed the coin and they both watched flipped in the air, finally landing on Gold's palm.

Heads.

"So?" asked Belle with a triumphant smile. "What's going on?"

"You remember the incident with Henry and his friends?" began Gold, resigning to his fate.

"Oh you mean the Nevengers?" teased Belle which got Gold to smile a little, the tension in him cracking a bit. "Yes, I did."

"Well apparently their exploits are decided a tossing a coin," explained Gold. "So Neal and Emma have decided to teach young Henry a lesson about proper decision making by making him experience how tossing a coin is not the ideal way to decide on things."

"I gather the coin hasn't been on his side much," asked Belle with a small chuckle.

"Apparently he's only had vegetables for dinner this past week," answered Gold with his own laugh. "And he's only had hot chocolate with cinammon once."

"Ouch," said Belle. "That must have been the kicker."

"Indeed," said Gold. "I took part in the lesson because Henry is by the shop more often than not."

"You would risk giving someone an extension on your rent by flipping a coin?" asked Belle, an eyebrow raised.

"Why does everyone think that is the worst case scenario?" asked Gold, feigning being insulted but Belle could see the playfulness in his eyes. "Besides, I agree with the lesson. Decisions are meant to be thought over...not just going with the flow as the young seem to do these days."

Belle gave him a thoughtful look. "But over thinking something is also not the most ideal when it comes to deciding something." She paused as she played with the coin, spinning it on the counter top. "People also tend to over think, looking at the worse case scenario when deciding on things. Even for the most trivial things like talking to someone...what if he doesn't want my company? What if we can't talk about anything? What if I just stare at the person because he is just too beautiful to look at?"

She paused and met his gaze. "Sometimes you don't need think at all...but have the bravery to take the leap."

Goold stood wide-eyed out. What was Belle-

"Hey grandpa, hey Belle!" greeted Henry as the door to the shop opened. "Dad said to wait for him here. I can do my homework at the back, can't I grandpa?"

"Of course, my boy," said Gold as he cleared his throat.

"Are you here to pick up your book Belle?" asked Henry as he went behind the counter towards the back room. "Grandpa and I worked hard to make sure it was in near perfect condition again."

"It looks perfect Henry," said Belle as she picked up the book. Henry smiled and went to the back, leaving the two adults alone again.

The two shared a look and Gold began to talk about the things he did to restore the book. Previous conversation seemingly forgotten as they talked more about old books, how to take care of them and the usual debate of print versus digital copies.

"As much as I want to return this book to its proper owner," began Gold. "I still do have to inspect it if the binding held."

"I understand," replied Belle with a smile. "I'll come back when it's ready but thank you for informing me that you managed to restore it."

With a nod, she turned to leave and Gold knew this was now or never.

Belle's hand was already on the handle when he heard the familiar sound of a coin being flipped. She turned just in time for Gold to catch the coin, his hand closing on it so that the decision was hidden from them both.

"Mr. Gold?" asked Belle.

"I decided to flip a coin about every decision in my life for a week." began Gold, shyly as he met her gaze. "And that's how we ended up here…"

Belle turned to him in confusion but then she smiled softly. "And what decision does the coin must ponder on about this time?"

"Whether or not if I should ask a beautiful librarian for dinner tomorrow night," said Gold. Belle's smiled brighter and she closed the door before walking around the counter to stand next to him.

"What made you change your mind?" asked Belle.

"You said it yourself, be brave and take the leap," said Gold with a sheepish smile. "Well here I am...doing the brave thing and hope that bravery follows."

Belle smiled and covered his hand over the coin with her own. "You do realize whether the coin says no, I still do expect a formal invitation."

"Sod the coin," whispered Gold as he turned to look if Henry was eavesdropping. "Besides the rules were that we didn't have to flip a coin for very important decisions."

"You still flipped it," teased Belle. "Besides, I'm curious to see what the universe has decided for us."

"And what if it says no?"

Belle's smile was infectious and Gold knew he had nothing to worry about. She chuckled Belle and prodded him to open his hand. "Sod the coin."

There gleaming in the light of Gold's shop shone a coin...with the face of heads.

They both smiled and turned to each other. "The coin has spoken."


End file.
